Memory Lane M7 ATF AU
by senorabutterfly
Summary: The boys get Buck a gift he can't believe... First in a possible series of follow-up stories to my Hidden Talents one. Hope you all like it. Not mine, no profit made.


Memory Lane M7 ATF AU

"Man, I sure would love to have one of those cars again!" sighed Buck Wilmington as he sat slouched comfortably in Chris' armchair at the ranch.

"Which one?" asked JD in confusion.

They'd been talking about the 'Hidden Talents' game of the electronics tech's that they'd played a couple of months back when they were under 'house arrest'…Vin Tanner's words… in an ice storm after a bust. Wilmington had shared that his 'talent' that no one knew about was writing articles for a car magazine under a pseudonym. He'd been working on a story about the '69 Charger and had revealed that Chris had one when the two men met, and he'd had a '76 Trans Am.

Buck gave another dreamy sigh, the kind he usually reserved for women.

"Either one, Kid. But I'd give my eye teeth to get to drive one 'a those Firebirds one more time! You should 'a heard that engine purr… and power! Nothin' like flyin' down the road like a bandit with the wind in your hair and a pretty girl ridin' shotgun…"

As usual, the comment caused several rolled eyes, two grimaces, and a shake of Larabee's head. You could always count on Buck to work a lady into any story he started.

It was a week before Christmas and the men were at the ranch finishing with the decorations. It had taken Chris a while, but he'd finally agreed to let Buck, JD, and the others put up lights on the outside of the house and fill the living room with a tree, tinsel, poinsettias in pots, and a boat-load of other stuff. He'd given in the year before and found to his surprise that after the first bout of nostalgia about Christmases with his family, that he'd actually rather enjoyed having the place decked for the holidays again.

This year it was even easier. He knew Sarah would love the way Vin and JD especially had thrown their hearts into putting something Christmassy in every nook and cranny they could reach. And she would be happy that he had found a new family…as dysfunctional as it sometimes was…to share his off time with. He imagined her looking down from heaven with a pleased smile on her face as she took in the overflowing room and blinking lights, wooden reindeer and sleigh on the front lawn, etc. Even the barn had a big evergreen wreath with a huge red bow hanging on the door.

Thinking of the barn brought a grin to his own lips. More especially, what was hidden behind. Looking around at the others while Wilmington was engrossed in his daydreams, they all nodded that it was time.

Chris stretched in his chair, then rose to his feet. Using the excuse of checking on the horses, he headed for the back door.

Buck drew up his long legs like he meant to get up as well.

"I'll go with ya, Pard."

Tanner joined Larabee instead. "Naw, that's alright Bucklin'. I'll go… you old men need your rest."

Buck gave the slender sniper a withering glance, but settled back down in his chair. He'd twisted his ankle running after a perp the day before and was actually glad not to have to pull his boots on over the swollen joint.

"Watch it there, Junior! My ankle gets better and I'll show you how old I am. Sides…Chris has three years on me and you're not harassin' him."

The sharpshooter bobbed his brows and gave a teasing grin as he pulled his jacket on. "Yeah, but he can still run, and he's got a gun in the barn…I ain't takin' any chances of bein' laid up like you this close to Christmas!"

The laughing comment got him a twin set of glares, one green and the other dark blue.

Elbowing the chuckling sharpshooter, the blond tilted his head toward the door.

"Come on, young 'un…let's get this done before it gets too dark to see."

Nodding, Vin followed the older man out, the rest suddenly getting talkative all at once to keep the ladies' man inside occupied.

It was surprisingly mild for December in Colorado, so the pair walked silently to the barn as if it was a normal trip. Leaves crunched under their feet and a few whirled in the light wind that came from the south.

Once they were inside the barn with the doors closed, the duo moved through to the smaller storage building behind. It normally held old odds and ends of lumber, fencing, etc. that Chris thought might be needed for repairs, but that was all now carefully stacked in the lean-to at the side. Buck seldom had reason to come out that far, so they'd been able to rearrange everything and make room for the tarp-covered shape in the middle of the space.

Both grinning in anticipation, the pair took the cover off and spent a few minutes just admiring the vehicle that was revealed.

A vintage 1976 Pontiac Firebird Trans-Am Anniversary edition sat in all its restored glory. The black and gold paint scheme was perfect down to the last detail, and the honeycomb rims glinted in the light from where the door was cracked open.

Vin whistled in admiration. He'd seen the car when Chris first found it and helped get it in the shed, but hadn't had a good look since Larabee had the restoration finished.

"She sure is a looker! So this is what Buck had back in your Navy days?"

Chris nodded with a smile. "Yep. Looked just like this. Buck had fixed it up himself, and it was a beauty. In fact, that was what he called her…Black Beauty."

The two started walking around the classic auto to make sure nothing had happened to mar the paint job and brushing off a bit of dust here and there.

"How much did it cost you to get this one restored?"

"Not that much. It was in pretty good shape when I found it. Cost more to buy it than it did to have the cosmetic work done. The old lady that had it though, had no idea what it was worth. It was her son's, who was killed while one duty in the Navy. I tried to tell her she was way low on the amount she'd quoted me, but when she found it was going to another SEAL, she let me have it for the original price. It'd been in storage since '78, and he'd barely put 2000 miles on it. I couldn't believe it."

"Sounds like it was meant to be…" mused Tanner thoughtfully as he opened the driver's door and slid into the seat.

Larabee gave a slight nod. "Yeah, that's kinda what I thought…" he answered softly. It had indeed felt like someone guided him to the lady and the car, since it had only been a month or so since Chris and the others decided to try to find one of the Firebirds for Buck. They had expected it would take months, maybe even years to come up with one that was drivable.

Vin gave the dashboard a pat and then looked up at Chris.

Nodding at the unspoken question, Larabee pulled out his phone and sent a text to Ezra, who he knew had muted his notification tone and was waiting for the message.

Getting a "he's in the bathroom" answer to his query of where Wilmington was, Chris put his phone back in his pocket and made a signal that meant 'turn her over'.

Tanner did so, and the powerful engine purred to life. Chris hurried to open the door to the shed so Vin could drive the Trans-Am out before Buck realized he heard a motor somewhere and came bolting out of the house. Women and classic autos both drew the ladies' man like a magnet.

Pulling the car out of the building, the sniper slowly drove over to park it in the driveway, just back from the porch, Chris following on foot. They had at least an hour of daylight left, and both men knew that once Buck got in the driver's seat they wouldn't see him until dark.

Climbing out of the vehicle and gently closing the door, Tanner joined Larabee and the two ambled nonchalantly back into the living room.

Buck was just coming out of the bathroom down the hall from the kitchen.

"You boys get everything taken care of?"

Chris tried to look serious. "I think maybe your horse has a stone bruise. You might want to come out and take a look…"

Buck looked vaguely concerned, but not worried.

"You check it out?"

"Yeah, but you should probably give him a once-over to be sure we didn't miss anything." added Vin with a straight face.

Buck looked undecided for a minute, then nodded. The boys wouldn't urge him to go like that if there wasn't a reason. Sitting down, he worked his boots on and took the jacket Nathan helpfully handed him, not seeming to notice that it was odd for the normally overprotective medic to aid him in walking outside on a swollen ankle.

The rest tried to casually follow along behind, but Wilmington was getting suspicious as they all gathered up their coats and formed a slightly disorderly line behind him.

"Hey, Stud…what's…"

Buck intended to ask Chris what was up, but about the time he got to the last word, he'd reached the porch and Larabee and Tanner had moved aside to let him see the gleaming black beauty in the driveway. The cobalt eyes got wide in disbelief as the dark brows rose in shock.

"Holy Shit! Is that what I think it is, or am I dreamin'?"

The other six had huge grins on their faces. Chris waved at the car.

"You're not dreamin' big fella. Happy early Christmas!"

The lanky brunet suddenly forgot his aching ankle, along with everything else around him. He hopped down the steps on his good leg and beat a slightly uneven but sure path to the Trans-Am almost as if pulled to it.

"Hello darlin'! You are one of the most beautiful things I have ever laid eyes on…" crooned the smooth voice as if he was talking to a lady. "Let's take a look at ya."

One hand ran reverently over the hood, sides, and trunk of the car as the ladies' man continued cooing softly to it.

"Whooee…look at those lines! Yes indeed, you are a beauty!"

The handsome form suddenly stopped when he got back around to the front of the car.

"Did you boys rent this for me or is she…?"

JD bounced up and down on the balls of his feet. "She's yours, Buck."

The dark blue gaze swung to Chris and then Nathan. They wouldn't pull his leg like some of the others would.

Both men nodded.

"She's yours, Buck. We all decided after the Hidden Talents thing that we'd try to find you one we could afford and have it fixed up for you." answered Chris.

'Yeah, the memory appeared to be a real special one to ya, so seemed like somethin' you'd really appreciate. And you're kinda hard to buy for..." added Jackson with a big smile.

Vin grinned as well. "And we had all that hazard pay sittin' around drawin' interest thanks to Ez, so when we all chipped in it was actually pretty reasonable."

"Indeed Mr. Wilmington. That piece of American automotive engineering is all yours. It's not quite the Jag, but she is a lovely vehicle." opined Standish with a gleam of his gold tooth.

Lord, what were these men doing to him? He was genuinely pleased to have contributed to a gift that made the generous ladies' man so happy. And with no benefit to himself at all. Mother would be appalled! The thought brought a wicked twinkle to his eyes. Finding the perfect present for a compatriot and making his mother speechless in shock was almost as good as it got as far as he was concerned.

Speechless also now applied to the normally gregarious explosives tech. The others suddenly realized that Buck had stopped his dreamy monologue and was totally silent as he looked from first the car, then to them, then back again. One single tear formed at the corner of an eye as he stood swiveling his head back and forth for a minute.

"Wow, Buck…is that a tear?" asked JD in awe. Buck never cried. He got sad, and sometimes mad, and even melancholy on a rare occasion, but he never cried.

Adam's apple bobbing up and down as he swallowed thickly, Buck nodded. One hand reached up to flick the errant drop of moisture away.

"Yeah, Kid. I guess it is. This means more to me than I can say. And I know it's not often ol' Buck is speechless… but you boys caused it to happen. I still can't believe you did this for me…found Black Beauty II for me…"

He reached over and gave the hood a fond pat in the middle of the gold eagle design, and then hobbled over to the group of men who stood watching him with smiles on their faces. Stretching out his long arms, he gathered as many to him as he could in a group hug.

"Thank y'all! That's all I can say right now…" he whispered somewhat huskily as he squeezed tightly on the shoulders in his grasp.

"Wow. I can't believe Buck's at a loss for words! That's almost as amazin' as Ez bein' speechless!" laughed Vin.

Ezra tried to form a comeback, but was hindered by Wilmington's arm around his neck since he was one of the shorter ones of the group. He was glad the man was happy, but he was beginning to hope he ended the giant embrace soon or he, Standish, was going to pass out!

Fortune heard the gambler's wish, and the ladies' man suddenly released everyone and found his usual boisterous voice.

"Hell, boys! We're burnin' daylight and I've got a sweet lady to put through her paces!"

Waving to Chris and the others the tall form hopped over to the driver's side. Since the car was a two-door, there was no way they were all going to fit, but JD jumped in the passenger seat. With a wink Vin hurried over and plopped himself in the shotgun position of Ezra's Jag. Grinning, the undercover agent slid into the driver's spot and started the expensive vehicle. Chris waved Josiah and Nathan to the Ram and climbed up behind the wheel. While some might not think an extended cab truck was a match for two sports cars, the others had driven with Larabee before and knew he could make the big pickup do things that the manufactures had never designed it for! He might not beat 'em, but if they were halfway safe, he wouldn't lose 'em either he thought with a grin.

Starting the big engine, the blond put it in gear just as Buck backed up and then peeled down the drive, gravel spitting out behind him, but not so high that it would ding the paint. Ezra followed, allowing the imported car to do a little fish-tail just to show that he could. Chris barreled after them, causing Josiah to cross himself discreetly and Nathan to make sure the first aid kit he had all the men carry was in its proper spot under his feet.

Windows rolled down even with the 40 degree temps and voices whooping loudly, the three vehicles slid onto the highway and sped off down the pavement into the lowering sun. The neighbors who were out attending to their own chores looked up and smiled, waving as the trio roared past. Looked like the Magnificent Seven boys were taking a trip down memory lane.

By DMA


End file.
